San Francisco Mime Troupe | 2017
Free political theater & music in parks all over the Bay Area
– Various dates: July-September 2017
– SF, Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, and more
– FREE (donations requested)

Founded in 1959, the San Francisco Mime Troupe creates and produces socially relevant theater; despite the name “mime,” their work is not pantomime, but live musical comedy and political satire.

In 2017, the troupe premieres “Walls.”Walls asks the question: How can a nation of immigrants declare war on immigration? The answer: Fear.

L. Mary Jones (Velina Brown) knows all about fear. As a top agent for I.C.E. – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – she knows how to stoke fear to keep her country safe. Fear of people like Bahdoon Samakab (Rotimi Agbabiaka), a Somali refugee escaping oppression, fear of Cliodhna Aghabullogue (Lizzie Calogero), an Irish woman yearning to be American, and fear of Zaniyah Nahuatl (Marilet Martinez), whose family comes from here. As a foreigner in a land her people have worked for thousands of years, suddenly Zaniyah is a criminal, an illegal, a “bad hombre.” What part of herself will this American give up to pass as “American?” Will she? Can she? Should she? Can someone leave part of themselves behind without losing their mind? And is it better or worse that she crossed the border to find Agent L. Mary Jones – the woman she loves?